House's Hart
by ocfairygodmother
Summary: Dr. Lauren Hart has been curious about Dr. Gregory House for as long as she can remember. Practically her entire life. When she finds herself with the chance of a lifetime at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, she can't in good conscience refuse, no matter what the cost.


**Chapter 1: You Can't Always Get What You Want**

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A blue Toyota Corolla pulled into a parking stall at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. The woman inside the car wasn't in need of medical attention. At least, not yet. The woman fixed her long brown hair in the rearview mirror, running her fingers through her straight locks since she didn't have a hairbrush available. Now that she was actually a real practicing doctor, she should probably keep a brush in her car for moments like this. Her mother had taught her that first impressions were important from a young age and she tried to live her life by her mother's rules.

She was nervous. But it wasn't the job interview that was making her nervous. The Dean of Medicine had already told her that the job was hers if she wanted it, the interview was simply a formality. It wasn't the fact that she had finally achieved her dream either. No, it was the sign on the parking stall across from where she had parked. It seemed to be glaring at her. House, M.D. Most people wouldn't find a sign all that threatening, especially not one that said House. But this one terrified her. Most people considered their house to be their home, a warm and welcoming thing. A word they could take comfort in and a place to make happy memories. The word never brought any comfort to Lauren. Just the opposite. It usually brought anxiety and a reminder of what she couldn't have.

Lauren reached into the backseat of her car and grabbed her white doctor's coat. The object made her beam with pride. Years of hard work had finally paid off. Well, they had paid off when she had graduated med school, but it still felt rather appropriate now that she was officially on her own. After several deep breaths, Lauren finally convinced herself to exit her car and head for the hospital. Would it feel like this every day? A rush of excitement and a mixture of wanting to vomit? No, she had watched enough medical drama shows to know that the feeling would eventually wear off and things would one day become old hat. While Lauren hated to admit it, but she was a sucker for soap operas, especially the medical dramas. They were her guilty pleasure.

Once she walked through the doors to the building, she found a familiar face there to greet her. "Good morning, Dr. Hart," Dr. Lisa Cuddy, Dean of Medicine greeted her. Lauren smiled and returned the sentiment. Lauren had known Dr. Cuddy for years and that was part of the reason she had gotten such a good job in the first place. It almost seemed to good to be true.

Cuddy hugged Lauren. "God, I can't believe you're old enough to be a doctor."

"Well, technically I am a little younger than most," Lauren reminded her. She had graduated high school when she was fifteen, nearly sixteen, but still fifteen. Her mother had strived for her to push herself...and skipping a couple of grades didn't hurt matters either. Sure, Lauren had bragged about it more when she was younger, but it seemed people wanted their doctors to be older with a little more experience. And people assumed that experience and age were married. So, the last few years she had kept quite mum on her age. But Dr. Cuddy knew all about her, so there was no need to hide that fact.

"Why don't we head to my office?" Cuddy suggested before motioning her toward a door.

Lauren nodded her head and walked toward Cuddy's office. She already knew where the office was having been there an occasion or two prior to that day. Stopping outside the door to Cuddy's office, Lauren clung tightly to her coat. She was nervous. Cuddy seemed to notice that. Cuddy reached out and gently rubbed Lauren's arm before she opened the door to her office.

"Have a seat," Cuddy said holding the door open.

Taking a step inside, Lauren looked around the office. There was a sofa as well as two chairs facing a desk. She turned back toward Cuddy. "Anywhere?" Lauren asked nervously. "I mean, besides _your_ chair. I obviously would never sit there."

Cuddy smiled and shook her head. "There are moments when I wonder how you're related to him."

Lauren arched an eyebrow. "And this would be one of those moments?"

Cuddy nodded.

Lauren walked further into the office. She shrunk a little in intimidation. This place had never intimidated her before, but it suddenly seemed different now. This was now her future employer's office. Lauren chewed her bottom lip, trying to fight the nerves as she sat down on a chair in front of Cuddy's desk.

Cuddy took a seat behind her desk. She sat up straight in her chair and folded her hands on her desk. She looked at Lauren who was fidgeting in her chair and looked to be biting her lip so hard it might bleed. "I remember being nervous for my first interview," Cuddy said and smiled softly at Lauren. "But Lauren, like I already told you, this is just a formality. The job is yours."

After a sigh of relief, Lauren relaxed a bit. She sat a little straighter in her chair and stopped tapping her foot against the floor. She smiled up at Cuddy.

But Dr. Cuddy pursed her lips. She licked them before continuing. "But…"

Lauren winced. There was always a but. And she had a feeling she wasn't going to like this one.

"I have to confess that I'm bringing you on to be more than just a doctor," Cuddy said rather hurriedly like she had been holding onto that.

Lauren's brow furrowed. "Oh?"

Cuddy looked a little hesitant. "I was hoping you'd help with...House. Keeping him in check."

The new doctor shook her head. "I don't want on his team." Lauren was probably one of the few doctors in the world who could say such a thing and honestly meant it. Dr. House's team was renowned and he received hundreds of applications for a spot on his team every year. Something Lauren could never fully understand.

"I'm not asking you to work in Diagnostics, I'm just asking you to help me keep an eye on him. He's already cost this hospital a lot of money and I'm admitting that I need help with him. I need _you_ to help me with him."

Lauren shook her head and scoffed. She glanced down at the ground for a moment before looking Cuddy in the eye. "You mean babysit him? I don't know what you think I can do. You already have Wilson."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Wilson enables him, you know that. You're one of the few people I've seen go against House and not back down."

Lauren rubbed her temples. She should have known that there would be a catch. She should have known Cuddy wouldn't just offer her a job without strings. Lauren rubbed her neck and sighed. "Is the job offer off the table if I say no?"

Cuddy pursed her lips and said nothing. That wasn't a yes, but it certainly wasn't a no. Lauren sunk in her chair as Cuddy stood up and walked over to her. She knelt so that she was at Lauren's level. "I know you say that you don't want anything to do with him, but I think we both know better. This opportunity also gives you a chance to get to know him."

Lauren refused to meet Cuddy's gaze. She glanced upward at the ceiling. "What makes you think I even want to get to know him? Especially now of all times? I'm trying to start my life...away from him."

"I think beyond this bluster and b.s., you really do want to get to know him. You've always wanted to know him. Not because you're curious about him, which I do think you are. Not because you even like the guy, because let's face it, he's a hard one to like. But because you want to know him...and want him to like you because he is all you have left."

Lauren folded her arms across her chest and slumped in her chair. "Yeah, well, the philosopher Jagger said, we can't always get what we want, can we?"

Cuddy shook her head and didn't respond right away, attempting to hide a smile from appearing on her face. There were times when Lauren, despite not knowing him very well, was her father's daughter. And _this_ was one of those moments. Cuddy sat a little taller behind her desk. "I believe that philosopher also said that if you try sometimes you get what you need," she responded. "But this hospital needs you...and you need a job. It's a win-win."

She did need a job. She was broke. Bad. Her mother had had cancer before she died. Any money they had gone toward paying for her mother's treatment. Then there was the funeral. Plus college and med school expense. Cuddy had her there. She needed this job. The likelihood of her getting this well-paying of a job, let alone in her field, was rare. She wasn't really in a place where she could refuse the offer.

Lauren sighed. "You should have led with _that_ argument."

Cuddy leaned back in her chair. "Yeah, probably," she admitted before she chuckled. She opened her mouth to say something more to Lauren when the phone rang. Cuddy glanced at Lauren and held up a lone finger before she answered the phone.

Lauren exhaled a breath she hadn't known she stood up and walked out of Cuddy's office to give the Dean of Medicine some privacy. There was no need for her to overhear the conversation, especially seeing as she wasn't yet an employee at the hospital yet.

A few minutes later, Cuddy walked out of her office looking somewhat flustered. "I'm sorry about that," she apologized. "I have a little situation to deal with."

"It's _him_ isn't it?" Lauren threw her head back and groaned. Was she about to start her _job_ before she had even signed the appropriate paperwork? Technically, she hadn't even said yes yet.

Cuddy chuckled. "Surprisingly, no. He's a bit preoccupied at the moment."

Lauren looked horrified. She didn't know much about him, but she did know of some of his _habits_...especially concerning women...and sleeping with them. "Please don't tell me that he's seeing…"

"A class," Cuddy cut Lauren off before she could finish. "He's busy teaching a class. I decided to torture him today. Although he will likely repay in full...and then some in the near future."

Lauren's mouth formed an _o_.

Cuddy laughed. "Actually, you know what? You'd probably get a kick sitting in on his class and it will give you something to do while I go take care of this."

Lauren folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not interested in diagnostics."

Cuddy looked at her pointedly with her hands on her hips. "You're really gonna pass up an opportunity like this when it's handed to you? I'm betting you've wanted a moment like this your entire life. Besides, when have you stepped down from a challenge?"

"It's not that, it's…"

"I mean at the very least, you get to make an entrance. He has no idea that you're here. I wrote in my planner that I was meeting with the janitor in case he went snooping."

Without even waiting for her response, Cuddy led Lauren to where the class was being held. Lauren was torn. While on one hand, she saw Cuddy's point on the matter, but on the other, seeing him also slightly terrified her, not that she would ever admit to it...or show it. She refused to ever look weak in front of him. Lauren knew better. He ate weakness for breakfast.

They came to a stop outside the door. Lauren shook her head and was about to protest, but Cuddy pried Lauren's coat from her arms. She held it out in front of her toward Lauren. "Put on your coat and show him how far you've come without him. Show him what he's missing without you."

"You know that's usually the sort of thing when a girl is trying to get the guy and I don't have an Electra Complex," Lauren quipped. Her sarcasm and dry sense of humor usually appeared when she should be nervous. Ususally, but not always.

Cuddy looked at her pointedly. "Just put the damn coat on and show him."

Lauren sighed and pulled her arm through one sleeve. Cuddy helped her with the other sleeve. Lauren ran her fingers through her long locks and pulled them out from beneath her coat. She took a deep breath, her hands nervously clinging to the sleeves of her coat. Cuddy told Lauren that she would be back for her in a bit. She then opened the door and gave Lauren a little push inside.

The door closed behind Lauren, but she stayed tight against it, surveying the scene. Dr. Gregory House was sitting at a desk on the stage coloring a picture. Of all the scenes Lauren had played out in her head of when she saw him again, this was definitely not it. To be honest, most of the time she had imagined him showing up on her front door telling her that he had been wrong and an asshole. Which was stupid because that would never happen in a million year.

Suddenly, Lauren's nervousness was replaced. It was replaced with the anger she held toward him. That always happened. For some reason, he brought out a side of her that was almost foreign to her.

House stopped coloring and held the picture up for the class to see. "What would you call that? It's tea-colored, right?" House asked looking at the picture before he put it back down and colored it a little more. He held it up once again and nodded his head. House stood up from the desk, but he didn't even bother to look back at her. That only fueled Lauren's anger.

Still clutching the picture, House leaned heavily against his cane as he walked toward the front of the stage. "The guy we thought was just after drugs-What's the differential diagnosis for urine that's tea-colored?"

"Kidney stone," of the future doctors sitting in the audience suggested.

House rolled his eyes. "Kidney stones would cause what?" It was pretty obvious these students annoyed him, although Lauren could swear that he was almost enjoying this-being able to lord his knowledge over them.

"Blood in urine."

House looked at the picture before he looked at the guy in the audience pointedly. "What color is your pee?"

"Yellow."

"What color is your blood?"

"Red."

House held the picture up in front of him toward the audience. "What colors did I use?"

"Red, yellow, and brown."

"And brown. What causes brown?"

"Waste," Lauren whispered before one the students answered the same thing. She smiled to herself.

House leaned heavily against his cane. "Which means the kidneys are shutting down. Why?" Someone suggested trauma, but House shook his head before glancing down at his leg. "None that his history would indicate."

Most of them had missed the subtle hint. But Lauren smirked. She figured out the diagnosis he was fishing for. The chances of one of these med students figuring out what was wrong was not very likely. Lauren only knew the diagnosis because she had been present when _this patient_ had been diagnosed.

In dramatic House fashion, he limped back to the desk and slammed the picture onto it, clearly frustrated with the group. "You know what's worse than useless? Useless and oblivious. What are they missing?"

"It's kind of hard to think when you're in our face like…" one of the female students stammered. Lauren winced. That was the wrong answer...especially with House.

House turned to glare at the student. His face was contorted in anger. "Yeah? You think it's gonna be easier when you got a real patient dying?" He limped toward the front of the stage again, glaring at those attending the lecture. "What are you missing?" he shouted.

Lauren took a deep breath and took a step forward, literally stepping into the light. It was time to make herself known. "Muscle death," she called out folding her arms across her chest.

Dr. House's head whipped to find Lauren. His brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed at her. He blinked several times as if he didn't quite trust what he was seeing. Lauren couldn't help but smirk. For once in her life, she had the upper hand on him.

Lauren straightened her shoulders and held her head high as she walked down a few steps. All eyes were on her. The students in the lecture started to whisper amongst themselves about muscle death as Lauren made eye contact with House. She refused to be the one to back down first.

House broke contact first and cast his gaze downward for a moment as he shook his head. "Last time I checked, you don't even go here, Dr. Hart," House said with a gravelly tone.

While she was slightly surprised at the fact that he had called her _Dr_. Hart, she couldn't help but respond. It was like it was in her DNA to make some sort of snarky comeback. "Dr. Cuddy said I wouldn't want to miss this. So, I came calling." While it wasn't completely the truth, it was enough of it.

House looked up at Lauren again. He gave a curt nod before he addressed the lecture. "Dr. Hart's assessment would be correct. Muscle death…"

He then moved on to continue his lecture like she wasn't even there. Lauren sighed and slunk into a chair, exhaling the breath she didn't know she had been holding. That was probably the most positive interaction she had had with the man in years…which was pretty pathetic because biologically speaking, he was her father. And she knew for a fact that the World's Greatest Dad mug on the desk wasn't his...because she would never give him such a thing.

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**Author's Note: So...this happened. Thanks to those of you who read this. It means a lot to me. I'm not gonna apologize for another plot bunny escaping. Instead, I'm gonna own it. Yes, I have another OC whom I love dearly and will likely torture! Haha. **

**If you wanna see some edits for this story check out my tumblr accounts. Drlaurenhart is a sideblog for this story. My main account is missjanuarylily and edits can be found there too.**

**Also, if you like reading OCs or write OCs and have a tumblr, check out ocappreciation and ocs-central!**


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